All The Lost Ones
by jdtolnay
Summary: When street urchin Emelia steals an item worth more trouble than she bargained for, she'll find herself caught up in a secret war between the Inquisition and an insidious Chaos cult looking to turn the planet to the Ruinous Powers...
1. Chapter 1

**Part 1: Urchin**

The streets were crowded this time again, the mass of humanity flowing through the narrow, broken cobble-stone streets like a filthy river. The sun beat down on the morass of people, baking their stench so that it wafted as a vile perfume where the people went, and that was everywhere. It seemed every square inch was taken up by someone, either walking, running, sleeping, selling, buying, or hiding. There was no quiet, there was no calm, there was no way to get away from the crowds, especially during this most august holiday.

Discovery Day, that was the holiday that had drawn nearly the entire population of the world to the capitol city during the hot mid-summer month. This was the day to celebrate when the planet had been brought back into the fold of humanity ten thousand years before by the Great Crusade of the Emperor of Mankind. Ten thousand years ago, the Adeptus Astartes, the Space Marines, had landed and declared the planet part of the Imperium of Man after being isolated and alone during the terrors of Old Night. Spinning around a hot star to the galactic south, Riga was part of Segmentum Ultima, and a distant world at that. It was sitting on a major trade artery through the sector though, which made it a well-traveled world for it's remoteness.

On this day, the world had come to a standstill in observance of Discovery Day, the population making pilgrimages to the capitol, to be there for the official ceremony. The capitol was over-stuffed with humanity at the best of times, now it was simply unbearable. The flags bearing the Aquila hung everywhere, blowing in the foul-smelling air that wafted through the streets above the river of people. Everywhere there was someone, everywhere there was money to be made, money to lose, lives to lose, and vices to indulge in. The streets had been packed for days now, and with the official ceremony only a day away, it was as bad as ever.

It was through this impenetrable mass of flesh and machinery that a little tuft of chestnut hair darted. Sandals that were more not there than there clung to dirt-crusted feet as the small figure weaved through the crowd with expertise. Slipping in between two plodding Mechanicum servitors, the young one gained a few more feet down the road. Her tattered, dark red tunic hung loose on her emaciated body, barely enough fabric left to call it modest by any means.

"Get back here gutter trash!"

A shouting behind her let her know that her pursuer was close. Daring a glance behind her, she could see a huge burly brute of a man, half a skull made of metal, barreling through the slow moving crowd after her. Letting out a string of curses that would make even the most experienced Naval officer blush, the man fixed his real and cybernetic eye on hers of blue and sped up; it was only his sheer brute size and strength that afforded him any forward movement at all.

Turning again forward, the young girl saw her goal: a loose grate on the side of an old building just a dozen or so more yards up the clogged road. The man chasing her wasn't entirely wrong, she was gutter trash and she knew it. Alone, unwanted, scavenging to survive, that's all she could be. Her parents had been killed by a local gang lord over her father's gambling debt, and she had been made the crime lord's pet. Eight years of age, she was a trophy to the vile man that had killed her family. When a rival gang raided the crime lord's base of operations, she had managed to escape in the firefight, using the confusion to slip into the duct system and get out of there; now ten years old, she had been on her own ever since. She had learned how to hide, how to move about in the crowded city, filled with no one that cared about her. The man chasing her was a shop owner, she had stolen a piece of three-day-old bread which would be her meals for the next several days if she was careful. Normally, she would not have been caught, but the customer the shop-keep was dealing with had dropped some coins, and he had turned to grab them, that's when they saw her.

Emelia had learned how to steal and pick-pocket like the best of them, her education being practical and on the street. The size of her hands were to her advantage, her small hands slipping into pockets and retrieving valuables from them; many member of the local Administratum or some wealthy business had discovered their pockets lighter when next they inspected them.

Using her smaller size to get around a rather fat, flashy-dressing merchant, she lifted the grating on the hole on the wall and dove in. Leading to a crawlspace underneath the building that would be to small for any full-size person, she crawled back into the darkness, the screams and curses of the shop keeper she had robbed clanging through the grate he had no hope of even getting his head through.

Crawling until she saw light again, she emerged in a small space between two ancient buildings, closed off at both ends save for the grate she had just emerged from. This was a space of her own world, a place just for her. Inaccessible to everyone and out of sight of everyone, here she was home. A dirty blanket and empty food cans littered the ground, the sum total of her possessions. Chest heaving, she leaned against the wall and let herself sink down, coming to a sitting position on crossed legs.

Carefully breaking the stale bread apart, she stashed several pieces underneath a wooden boxes, nibbling on the one she kept in her hand. She was hoping with all the bustle and distraction of the festival, she'd be able to score some more bread, maybe even some sweets if she was lucky. She knew that the holiday was about the Imperium finding Riga, everyone including street urchins knew the stories of that day. She knew about the Emperor on the Throne and might of His forces, but none of that mattered to her. She wasn't a heretic or pious, it just didn't matter to her. Not getting caught by bad men and and finding food were what she cared about. With the festivities, well-to-do travelers would also be about in the city, they definitely would have something worse stealing.

She was biting down on the stale bread when a shadow fell across her. Only having a second to look up, she saw someone falling from the sky right towards her! No, not falling, landing. The stranger hit the ground and did a roll to slow and cushion their speed, coming to a crouching stop right next to the young girl. This stranger, this person who suddenly fell from the sky, was clad in a black body suit with hair pulled back into a ponytail. A female, the young scared girl huddled up against the side of the wall figured this stranger was probably mid to late twenties, and she looked very deadly. The young girl had developed a sense for these things, this woman now before her had a aura of death about her. As she came to a full stop, legs bent and one hand on the ground, the young girl saw her quickly tuck some kind of red pendant back into the collar of her skin-tight bodysuit.

The woman slowly turned her head, her eyes obscured by a reflective black visor. It ran across her eyes and connected with some kind of cybernetic implant on either side of her head just before her ears. The young girl trembled, nowhere to run or hide, no way to defend herself so close to this deadly new arrival.

"Hello," the woman said.

"Um... he... hello," the girls' voice was barely a squeak.

The woman nearly smiled, then continued, "the Church of His Benevolence"

"E... excuse me?" the girl was still sure she was about to be attacked, her hands shaking as they gripped her legs.

"The Church, on Finelli Street. Which way is the street?"

It was more of a demand than a question.

Raising a trembling hand, the young girl pointed in the direction of Finelli Street.

"Thank you," the deadly woman nodded, looking that direction; it looked like she was about to jump or run again when she turned back to the little girl.

"Name?"

"..." the girl's mouth stammered.

The woman didn't seem to have a lot of time, "your name. What's your name?"

It had been a long time since anyone had called her by her name, the girl had to dig for the memory of the word for a moment.

"Emelia"

She nodded, "thank you Emelia"

The woman suddenly tensed her muscles and jumped up off the ground. She jumped so high she cleared the nine-foot wall and disappeared out of sight!

Emelia just sat there for a few minutes, looking at the empty air where the woman had suddenly jumped away into. She had never seen anyone move like that, it was amazing! Her fight-or-flight instincts finally calmed and Emelia was alone once more, an unexpected moment of excitement punctuating the day.

She sighed: back to her terrible daily life. As night fell, the noise of the crowd didn't fall with it; Emelia pulled the hole-filled blanket over her and went to sleep on the hard dirt ground, knowing that the next day would probably be just a horrible as every day preceding it. She had no idea that the next day, as ordinary as she expected it to be, would change her life forever.


	2. Chapter 2: Thief

**Part Two: Thief**

The sun rose the next morning over Riga revealing the endless throngs pouring into the street, most making their way slowly to the City Square, where towers of seats had been built so as many as possible could hear the opening speeches and presentations. The main event would be the final ceremonial speech by Cardinal Osslin tomorrow. The speech by head the Riga's local Ecclesiarchy operations was the main event of the celebrations, usually extolling the people to serve the Imperium, remain steadfast in their faith of the Emperor, and celebrating the rather boring history of Riga. All eyes would be on the Cardinal and the pageantry, which was perfect for Emelia; today they would be taking in the sights and sounds of the penultimate day. With the attention riveted elsewhere, all hoping others noticed how devote and rapt they were, she could probably score some great takings, hopefully more so than normal.

While the drug dealers, obscura fiends, thieves, the murderers, and the black marketeers would never rest in their business, most of the populace would either be at the invent or at one of the many locations set up to display a visual field of the parade grounds during the ceremony. Emelia rolled up her blanket and stretched out, making sure she was limber before she began her scavenging for the day.

Crawling back through the gate, the one she had escaped through the day before, she squeezed her way back out onto the packed street and picked a direction at random. All the streets were the same to her, lined with huge edifices to an Imperium that had forgotten her. She was a lost child, one of the many people who's name just vanished from Imperial records at some point. No family, no place of residence, nothing; her name would eventually be entirely lost to the Emperor's Imperium and when she eventually died, no one would know or care. She tried not to think on the subject very much, how she was alone with no one to be a friend to and no one to care about her; she was not the first and would not be the last to find this their fate in the mid-fortieth millennium.

Everywhere, brightly-colored banners bearing the holy symbols of the Imperium flapped in the breeze, everyone pretending to be more pious than they probably were for this day of the year. The local Adeptus Arbites, what few there were on the planet, were also out on patrol; Emelia made sure to stay clear of where their field command centers were set up, their Repressor vehicles brimming with terrifying weaponry such as Storm Bolters. One shell from such a weapon would tear a full-grown man in half, but that was not even the scariest thing to Emelia about the carapace-armor clad Arbites: it was their Cyber-Mastiffs. Cybernetic dogs, trained to hunt and bring down suspects; even though her crimes were petty and to survive, she knew the Arbites made no such distinction.

The local Planetary Defense Forces were also mustered and on display, more for ceremonial reasons, but also for crowd control as nearly the whole planet crammed itself into the capitol. Though Riga had no Hive Cities, the capitol sprawled and covered a good portion of the region; it also contained more than enough souls already before the influx of pilgrims for the ceremony. Emelia blended into the crowd, another unwashed member of the rabble, completely unnoticed by even those she was walking next to.

She weaved her way down the streets, waiting for something to catch her eye, either easy to steal food or something shiny she could sell later for a few coins. Most of the people making their way through the streets towards the parade grounds looked meager in their means, Emelia didn't even bother, she had come to learn what a good mark looked like. It was the way they dressed, they way they walked, the way they carried themselves: all these things usually betrayed they had something worthwhile in their pockets.

Crossing through an intersection, she turned left and found herself on another street much like the first. Lined with inns, most of the people emerging from the buildings on this street were travelers, either off-worlders or pilgrims here for the festival. A flap of a long cloak caught her eye a few yards ahead of her on the cracked stone road. Hurrying her step, she closed the gap between herself and this person, getting a better look at them. It was a man, looked late forties, but ages were nearly impossible to determine in the Imperium if the person was rich or important enough to have juvenat treatments. He had ruffled black hair pulled back into a short ponytail, and a hawkish nose; Black boots, black trousers, his cloak was long and a mahogany colour, a vest of equally deep blue and a white ruffled shirt complete his ensemble. This was a worthy mark by any means. He was not the flashiest dressed on the street by any means, in fact he was terrible average when compared with the other off-worlders, but something about the way he carried himself let Emelia know he was different from the others and probably had valuables were stealing. He carried himself with an assured purpose, not like the others still yawning as the dawn fell over the city, or struggling to find a place in the flowing crowds in the street.

She matched his pace and saddled up silently next to him. On either side of her people towered, she was invisible in the crowd. Flicking her fingers she carefully raised her hand and slipped it in his coat pocket. It was a voluminous space, and disappointingly empty. Emelia was about to withdraw her hand in frustration at the lack of coin purse when she felt some metal brush her fingers. She closed her hand around it and withdrew the object, the walking man never even noticing his pockets were becoming lighter. As her hand came away from his coat, she halted in her step, letting the man walk on and her disappearing into the crowd once more. She made her way out of the throng and down a side alleyway where she wouldn't be disturbed. Once she was temporarily out of the view of others, she looked down and slowly opened her hand to see what treasure she had managed to purloin from the off-worlder.

In her hand was a metal letter "I", a deep crimson embossed with a red border, measuring several inches long and and inch or so wide. In the center was a stylized skull in gold smiling back at her. She stared at it for a second, her heart skipping a beat, her breath caught in her throat. Despite her young age, despite being riff-raff, she knew what this was, every Imperial citizen knew what this was.

This was a rosette belonging to a member of the Imperial Inquisition.

The Inquisition: just the mention of it name would still the beating heart of even the fiercest fighters, would send people scurrying away for shelter. Inquisitors, charged with protecting the Imperium against threats within and out, hunting the xenos and the heretic and worse. They had absolute authority when they chose to invoke it. They spoke with the might of the Emperor and could even sanction the destruction of inhabited worlds.

She quickly closed her fingers around the rosette, hiding it from the world. Nervously she whipped her head back and forth, suddenly terrified that she was being watched at that very moment. No one emerged from the shadows though, and the traffic on the thoroughfare continued unabated. Hoping that it would have some how vanished, she slowly opened her fingers once more, the gold skulls still smiling up at her from the middle of the crimson letter "I". This was a score she did not want by any means. Anyone who would risk buying such a thing were the kind of people even criminals stayed away from, and to incur the wrath of an Inquisitor was even worse. Tucking the rosette her pocket, she darted back out onto the street, sweat streaming from her brow and her heart beating like it was trying to escape out of her chest.

Bending low to see at knee-length, she thought she saw the flair of the Inquisitor's cloak up ahead on the road. She poured on all the speed she could along the busy street and tried her best to catch up to him. If she was lucky, she could just deposit it back in his pocket and no one would be the wiser, if he discovered it was missing, she feared for her soul. She was not usually concerned with matters of Imperial faith, but when faced with the prospect of having angered the Inquisition, it came forefront to her mind.

Despite her best efforts, she could not seem to catch up to the man; he was deftly moving about the traffic with a skill nearly as good as hers she had practiced for years. Despite all the obstructions and slow-moving people in the street, the Inquisitor's pace never seemed to slow. He entered a hostel before she could catch up to him. Emelia stood on the front steps, looking up at doors he had entered, despair awash on her face. How was she supposed to return this terrible treasure now without him noticing? She had to return it, it would be far worse if the Inquisition came looking for her; she would disappear and no one would ever know or care. Steeling her nerves, she took a deep breath and looked for an alternate way into the building. She didn't want to be noticed, she wanted to get in and out as quickly as possible; the less people knew she was even here for whatever reason the better.

It took a few minutes of circling the building before she found a loose window into a storage room, which then led her into the ventilation ducts. Normally too small for any kind of egress, Emelia was able to slide through. She crawled as silently as possible, peering through every grate she found, hoping to discover where the Inquisitor had gone to.

She knew she was on the right path when she spied a visual scanner stuck to the side of the venting up ahead. Someone important must be near by for such an expensive device to be set-up in a air shaft where no one should be anyway. Emelia had come across these several times before in her 'scavenging trips' and was able to recognize it before it had recognized her. Backing up around the bend, she glanced around until she found what she was looking for: rat droppings. Following them to their source, she located a group of rats and was able to catch one without much trouble. Avoiding it's teeth, she brought it back to the corner where the motion sensor was and flung it past. The scanner sprang to life and turned to follow the movement suddenly going past it. As it was focused, Emelia flattened herself as much as -possible and slid past.

Further down the duct, the next obstacle presented itself, a sliding air-gate. It was solid piece of metal that blocked the entire vent, helping manually regulate airflow. It opened for a few moments, then slammed shut with enough force to cut something living in half; Emelia had seen several rats go that way during earlier scavenging trips. Reaching into one of the precious few pockets her tattered clothes afforded her, she pulled out a piece of paper, an earlier score from a book merchant. Folding the paper, she folded it as many times as it could go. She waited for the gate to open, then jammed the paper in. Resisting the force of the day, the paper wad created a jam, and forced the door open again. She had seen this happen with rat carcasses: if the door failed to close, it would remain open until maintenance could come and remove the obstruction. Pausing for a few more moments to make sure it was truly staying open, Emelia slid past as fast as she could. The fear of the system re-setting and cutting her in half was nothing of the fear of the wrath of the Inquisition if she did not return the stolen item.

She tried to ignore the fear threatening to bubble over inside her and move on: the sooner she could return the rosette, the sooner she could escape. She could then disappear back into the city, lost, where no one would ever find her again. She figured the Inquisitor must have just arrived in the area or else for sure he'd have better defenses, better methods of detecting intruders; of course, who in their right mind would go against an Inquisitor? She didn't event want to think about those types of people. Emelia was not the most pious person in the Imperium, but the words heretic and chaos still chilled her heart just as much as the next person.

Emelia finally found her destination: in a room through the grate ahead, she recognized the Inquisitor's coat hanging on a chair. Slowing her movements, she crawled up to the gate and peeked in. The air vent led to a bedroom to one of the larger suites in the hotel. The coat was slung across a chair and the room was deserted, except for the rich furniture decorating it. The furnishings were just as nice as Emelia had seen in the rich houses up in the Northern District of the city where she sometimes ventured when she felt brave enough. She was about to pop the gate open when she thought better of it and looked around the edges where it fastened to the wall.

It was a good thing she did, a thin wire was running around it, a wire that looked newer than the gate and the ducts. She wasn't sure what it was for, but assumed it would trip some alarm or even explode if the grate was removed. She laid there for a few minutes examining the problem. If she knew it wouldn't explode, she'd just pop the gate, throw the rosette back into the room and then run as fast as she could. But, with the possibility of the entire duct being engulfed in flames, she didn't want to risk it. There was a small hole in the grate and she put her finger in it, prying ti sideways. The grate was old and began to give way. Emelia hit upon an idea: she wouldn't have to remove the grate, just clear out the center of it. It would be a tight fit for sure, but she reasoned she could open the center of the panel and slip through without ever having to remove it. Keeping one eye on the door in case someone entered, Emelia slowly and quietly began peeling away the thin metal of the grate, widening the hole in the center.

After a few minutes, the whole was wide-enough; Emelia summoned her courage and slipped face-first into the room. She put her hands out and rolled forward, coming to a stop in the middle of the room. She glanced around the room; she couldn't quite see the corners of the relatively-small room, but she couldn't see anyone. Slowly standing, no alarms went off, and no one burst in, so she tip-toed over to the chair. Pulling the rosette out of her pocket, she dropped it back into the coat pocket, letting it fall from her hand like she had touched something disgusting. Not disgusting in this case: terrifying. She took a few steps back when something on the desk caught her eye.

She glanced back at the door, it was still shut and she didn't hear anyone outside. Looking around the room once more, she still couldn't focus on the corners of it, but she didn't see anyone anyway. Against her better judgment, she took a few steps away from the grate she had began heading back to and sided up the desk to see what it was. Sitting on the desk amongst a clutter of documents and other devices she had never seen before was a sizable stack of coins. Quite sizable. Emelia's heart beat in excitement at seeing more money than had ever been before her. She reached out, then remembered where she was and withdrew her hand like a poisonous animal was on the desk ready to strike. Seeing a note half-obscured by the glittering pile of coins, she cocked her head to the side and quickly read it. An official Inquisitorial report, the document stated that these coins were part of a larger sum confiscated from a corrupt administrator and had been tagged for delivery to several city Ecclesiastical charities such as poor kitchens, shelters, and other programs to help the poor. She stared hard and long at the pile of coins: it would give her a warm place to sleep and food for several months at least. She could get clothes that fit her, covered her, and kept her warm; it could feed her so you wouldn't be able to see her ribs anymore and the pain that was constant in the pit of her stomach would go away.

Emelia shook her head; this was not her. She would steal from businesses, from the rich, from those that wouldn't care. She had never stolen from those just as miserable as her. Even at her young age, she knew it was wrong to take from people who had as little than her. She wanted to take that pile of coins and be out there to better places, but she knew that no matter how comfortable she could make herself, it wouldn't sit right with her. She stole from people who by and large wouldn't miss it, not from those that would weep for it. As much as it pained her, she took a step away from the coins on the desk, she wouldn't steal them.

"Well done child"

Emelia's heart almost jumped out of her chest as she her a voice very close to her in the otherwise empty room!

She whipped around, arms up ready to defend herself, spinning around to see who else had managed to sneak in there with her.

"I could have got through the vents"

A female voice now echoed through the room; still Emelia saw no one as she spun, but the voice sounded familiar.

"Yeah," a male's voice, cocksure and laughing, now floated around her, "with a chest like yours?"

"I'll kill you Denny," the woman didn't sound amused, "so easy to do so"

"Hey," laughed the voice she had called Denny, "what would you do without my pretty face and expert shooting around here?"

"Probably have a much more quiet time," the first voice spoke again, a male's voice that carried gravity with it, strong but aged.

Emelia was crying with fear, she knew she was, she could taste the tears on her lips as they ran down her face, but she could her fists up, refusing to go without a fight.

"That's enough Barnabus," the first voice said again, "I think we've scared the poor girl enough"

Suddenly, the shadows in the corner that she couldn't quite focus on came into view, the darkness clearing and her gaze finally able to find its purchase. Emelia's heart faltered and her fists fell. There was no hope, there had been no hope from the start.

All four corners of the room were occupied by some very serious-looking people. One corner held a very large muscular man, arms folded, short-cropped black hair an an Lho-stick between his lips, smoke gently wafting from it as he took another drag. He was wearing a very old Imperial Guard jacket, had a lasrifle slung across his back and a combat knife held casually in one hand, the blade tip resting against his bulging forearm. The next corner was the man that had to have been 'Denny'. He looked just as sure of himself and his looks as his voice had suggested. Blond hair cut to a medium length, amethyst eyes, he also wore an Imperial Guard jacket, but in much cleaner condition than the other man. He was leaning nonchalantly against the wall in the corner, looking at her with a smile. Next to him, leaning on the wall as he was, was a huge sniper rifle that had a barrel longer than Emelia was tall.

Next to him was the woman that had been angry with Denny. Emelia's eyes widened as she recognized the woman: it was the one from the other day that had suddenly dropped down next to her and asked for directions! She was still wearing her skin-tight bodysuit but had her visor off, a pair of intense green eyes now looking back at her.

"Hey there Emelia," the woman smiled, "good to see you again"

Emelia tried to say something back, but the words were still-born in her dry throat.

The third corner contained the one the other voice must had referred to as 'Barnabus'. This man stood in a slouched posture, thick black robes with red trimmings hanging heavy on him. His skin was pale and his head bald, covered in sweat instead of air. He looked nervous, but nodded graciously at her as Emelia turned to face him. The last corner contained the person she expected but was the most terrified to see: the first one that had spoke, the Inquisitor.

The same man she wished so badly she had not stolen from in the street earlier that day. Dressed the same as he had been in the street, minus his cloak that was hanging on the nearby chair, he cut an imposing figure while not standing any more over six feet tall. His ruffled black hair was undone and hung just to shoulder length, he was easily recognizable with his hawk-like nose. He had several scars that ran deep, scars that juvenat treatments had lessened but could not completely erase. His eyes were the most piercing of all, as if his deep blue eyes were staring right through her into her soul.

She hung her head and fell to the floor, sitting in a hunched kneeling position. She knew her life was over. Now she cried. A little girl, a ten-year old thief, sat hopelessly surrounded by members of the Imperial Inquisition and its agents. From a situation like this, there would be no escape and her life of pain would only intensify then end in a terrible way. Emelia didn't know why she had been selected for such a horrible life, why the Emperor had seen fit to forget her amongst his great Imperium, but now her miserable existence was reaching its end.

A minute passed, and no one had advanced on her. She was shaking, but dared not look up. Maybe they were just toying with her. She cringed, expecting the pain to start any moment, but it did not.

"My child, why are you crying?"

It was the Inquisitor who had asked.

Shakily raising her head, she saw him still staring at her, but she couldn't see any anger in his face. She was confused, why wasn't he torturing her? Why wasn't he killing her? Why was she still here?

"Why are you crying dear girl?" he asked again.

"Be... because," the words came out as sobs, "I stole from you... and now... and now you're going to hurt me"

The room was silent for a minute, just her sniffs filling the air.

The Inquisitor spoke again, "and why would I hurt you?"

She shrunk back a little as he said the word 'hurt', but she forced herself to respond, "I broke... I broke the law, I stole from an Inquisitor"

The Inquisitor strode forward, his polished military-style black boots coming to a stop right before her. Emelia screwed her eyes shut. She expecting a swift kick, or a backhand, or a knife plunging through her frail body any second now. There was a movement of air but she felt no pain. Reluctant to do so, she she opened her eyes: he was kneeling right in front of her, hand outstretched. She stared at it, bewilderment awash on her face.

"My name is Inquisitor Toren Alexander and I'd like to ask for your help"


	3. Chapter 3: Agent

**Part 3: Agent**

"Wh... what?" was all Emelia could stammer out.

"I'd like your help Emelia," Inquisitor Alexander repeated, hand still held out to her.

She just stared at his hand. This had to be a trick, this had to be a cruel trick. What could an Inquisitor want with her except to punish her. She had stolen over the course of her life, she had been homeless, and she had not piously worshiped the Emperor; now her time was due. Here was a man that could destroy planets and end the life of every single person on them, why was he so cruel to a no one as insignificant as her. His hand remained in the space between them.

"But... why?"

"Because," there was still no anger in the man's voice, "I have a problem I believe you could help me with, and I've been very impressed with you"

"M... me?" her voice was barely a whisper, barely able to hold her gaze to that of the powerful Inquisitor.

He nodded, "yes, you've proven to be a rather intuitive and brave little girl, and one with a pure heart on top of it"

"I'm haven't," she dared to protest, her gaze falling once more to the floor, "I've... I've stolen, I've never gone to church, I've..."

He gently interrupted her, "no, none of that. I tested you, did you know that? The pile of coins there on the desk, I wanted to see if you would take it when you knew who it was supposedly for. You passed little Emelia, you were the good person I hoped you were when I knew you were coming here"  
"You knew?" she trembled at the knowledge that her entry and sneaking had all been seen.

"I did," he smiled, "you see, Barnabus there," he pointed to the one she had guessed, "well, he's a psyker and fooled your mind so you wouldn't see us until we wanted you to"

Her skin turned cold to be in the presence of a psyker now that she knew it. Seen as freaks, abominations, possible conduits of Chaos, psykers were only tolerated as the Navigators or Astropaths that allowed the Imperium to function, or sanctioned psykers that served the military might of the Imperium. If they were deemed unable to become those, then they were soul-bonded to the Golden Throne, feeding it and the Emperor with their life so that the Astronomicon, the beacon of light in the Warp, would continue to shine. If all those were not options, the psykers were to be killed outright. It was scary to be in the presence of someone with powers that could not quite be explained, that could possibly be rummaging around in her mind right then and there as they spoke. He had already blinded her eyes and ears to five other people in the room, he could probably kill her with a thought.

"It's all right," Inquisitor Alexander said, "he's a good one"

"How kind sir," Barnabus bowed slightly, his voice surprisingly youthful for one looking so thin of life.

"There's a member of the Ecclesiarchy here that the Inquisition... has an interest in, and with the Ecclesiarchy's blessing, we are here investigating. We believe he has been up to some very bad things Emelia, and for the good of everyone, we need to find out. You see, it needs to be quiet because of the important people involved, we want to avoid attention until we have to. We've been having problems with circumventing... I'm sorry, having problems with avoiding his security. I think you can help us with that"

She shook her head, all of this too much to take in, "I still don't understand why you need me, I'm no one,"

"I need you because you're smart, you're small, and I think you have a good heart. You risked being caught to return my rosette, you didn't take a pile of money that could have you living good for a long time because you didn't want to hurt others like you. You showed smarts getting through the vents, and we think the vents are the best way for us to reach this priest. So, are you in, will you help me?"

"O... ok," she stammered, too scared to say no and a little overwhelmed.

She finally reached out and put her hand in his. He grinned and shook it, standing and pulling her up to her feet. Patting her on the back, he motioned around the room.

"Welcome to the team then, at least for the moment. The big guy's Ruden, a rather useful Catachan I came across when I briefly visited that wonderful world a decade or so ago"

Pointing to the next corner where the man and woman were, "the one with the sniper rifle and the ego to match it's size is Cole Wyke, from Cadia if you couldn't guess from the eyes. The other female in our company there I believe you already met"

The woman came forward and bent a little so as to be closer to Emelia's height, extending a hand, "like I said: it's good to see you again. I'm Belladonna Monauex, I specialize in stealth and assassination"

"A... a pleasure," Emelia gulped and shook her hand.

"Met Bella on Necromunda," the Inquisitor went on, "was doing quite good cleaning the pockets and coin boxes of the rich there and an equally doing a good job putting down anyone to cross her"

"Until you found me," she bowed and stepped back.

"Indeed," the Inquisitor sounded proud, "I convinced her that her talents would be better served in doing the duty of the Emperor and His holy Inquisition. I already told you about Barnabus, and we met early on the street"

Emelia blushed and looked away at the mention of her earlier transgression.

"It's all right, no hard feelings about that. Now, surely you're tired and just a little over-excited at everything that's happened. We are not moving on our plan until tomorrow, so tonight you will rest here"

She glanced at the bed.

"I'm sure it'll be different sleeping indoors on something soft instead of old boxes outside. Please, get washed up and rest, enjoy it"

He patted her on the top of the head and left the room, the others following suit. Belladonna stopped at the door, gave her a re-assuring smile, then left, the door closing behind them.

Emelia just stood there for a few minutes more, trying to process everything that had happened to her since that morning. In somewhat of a daze, she made her way to the bed and climbed in. Whatever these Inquisition people wanted of her or were going to do with her, she sure as hell was going to enjoy a warm bed for once. Belladonna seemed nice, for someone who they said was a killer. The two soldiers, Emelia had seen their types before: the gruff ex-soldier and the playboy. The psyker was someone new entirely, she was leery of him and felt bad because he had not really done anything to her except hide the others. Besides, he had tried to be nice to her before. The Inquisitor, now he seemed kind, and terrifying at the same moment. He had smiled and held her hand gently, but even her young eyes could see the intensity and power behind his exterior. He was unlike anyone she had met or seen before; he had real power, not like the gang lords she was used to.

The next morning found Belladonna waking her up, "come on, busy day"

Emelia wanted nothing more than to stay under the warm covers, to avoid whatever the group had planned for her that day, but she really didn't think she had a choice. Being as slow as she possibly could be, Emelia slipped out of bed and joined the others in the next room. Barnabus was sitting in a chair near the corner, eyes closed, mouthing silent words. Belladonna was smiling at her and looking at her expectantly, almost like a proud mother hen. Both Ruden and Cole were cleaning and checking the mechanisms of their respective weapons; Inquisitor Alexander was sitting in the center chair of the room, facing her.

"Are you ready?"

She hesitantly stepped forward, feeling out of place amongst these spies, killers, and instruments of judgment. "I'm not sure... I'm not sure what you want me to do"

"Don't worry," Inquisitor Alexander reassured her, "we just need you to do what you've been doing: getting places you're not supposed to get to"

"Huh?" she was confused.

"The corrupt official we're looking at, the one I mentioned yesterday," the Inquisitor explained, "is very well guarded and it won't suit our immediate purposes to burst in waving the badge of the Inquisition. We've determined the best way to access him is access through the ventilation system of the Administratum structure, a point of access far too small for anyone on our team, even the very capable and limber Belladonna.

The woman held up her fingers, "grew up hanging off the side of the underhive, but that doesn't count for anything if I can't squeeze into the damn vent; they usually make them bigger..."

"Regardless," Inquisitor Alexander waved his hand, "Servo-skulls are too clumsy for this work as well. The point is you've proven yourself to be in a position to help us, to help the Imperium. We are looking for certain documentations relating to his secretive activities. Are you ready to serve for the first time? I promise you we are not just using you, you'll be well rewarded"

She thought of food, maybe a new blanket, "all I have to do is crawl through vents"

"Exactly!" the Inquisitor held his arms out wide, "piece of cake! Just get into his personal quarters, retrieve a certain little object and then be out again. Nothing out of your ordinary day I suspect"

"Oh... okay," she nodded.

She had never even dared to break into a proper Imperial building, but if an Inquisitor was telling her to do it, it must be all right. Besides, he said he'd reward her; that was hope enough to try to calm her fears. She hoped it would be a warm meal, or maybe even a new set of blankets, or maybe he'd kill her. That wouldn't be so bad, she mused, if she was dead, she wouldn't hurt any more.

"We have a map of the ducts, we'll show you on the way over," the Inquisitor stood, putting his hand on her back and guiding her to the door, "all right everyone, let's get this done"

They walked, the Inquisitor explaining that they did not want to draw undo attention to themselves by using a Rhino or any of the other official Imperial vehicles Emelia had hoped she would b able to ride in finally. As they walked, Belladonna handed her a map and talked her through the route to where the targets room was. It was not that complicated, Emelia had gotten lost in ventilation systems far more complex than this. They warned her there would be traps, but would talk her through them, though she did not know how they would do that. Besides the map, the woman also shoved some strange silver balls in her pocket, each having a diameter no larger than an inch, saying they'd explain those later. She started feeling a little better, maybe she could really do this.

Her confidence wavered slightly as they reached the main complex of the planetary Administratum: gold walls emblazoned with the double-headed eagle device of the Imperium. The building sat as if in judgment of the wretches that filed before it and lived around it; this was the heart of the planet, the seat of Imperial rule here. Discreetly going around the side and into an alley, Belladonna and the Inquisitor disabled the nearby scanners with devices Emelia had never seen before. After conversing with Barnabus for a few minutes as Cole and Ruden stood watch, Inquisitor Alexander came over and knelt down in front of her.

"Okay, you have the route memorized?"

"Yes sir," she nodded.

"She's a pro, learned on the streets; that's the best school," Belladonna interjected as she unscrewed the grate leading to a air duct six feet off the ground.

"Today you are serving the Inquisition and the Emperor," the Inquisitor patted the top of her head, "be proud and don't be afraid"

"But, but I am afraid," admitted Emelia.

He nodded, "of course you are, you'd be a fool not to be. This is a delicate matter, and perhaps the fate of planets hang in the balance if we upset what is going on here. If you are caught... if you are caught, don't count on us coming in after you"

She gulped; that was a sobering thought amongst the whirlwind she had found herself caught up in.

"Here you go," Belladonna gave her a leg up, "just stick to the plan and everything will be fine. Remember, you're looking for a small ivory box in the room marked with the RenSlen company logo, but do not open it. On your life Emelia, do not open it"

The woman's words put a chill in the young girls heart, "I got it"

"All right then, off with you," Belladonna gave her a smile and wave.

Emelia turned around, barely fitting into the duct, and began crawling, one arm over the next. She was following the route that had been marked out on the blueprints she had been down, but even so, she was fighting off claustrophobia every inch she went. She was no stranger to going through small spaces, even enjoyed the safety they provided from others, but this was cramped beyond belief. Going a few hundred meters, she encountered her first problem. A pint-size turret sat in the duct, covering the way forward. If she crossed into it's detection range, she'd be cut to ribbons

_Emelia?_

The voice that came out of nowhere startled her so much she hit her head heard on the ceiling above her. Trying to blink away the pain, she couldn't figure out where the voice came from. Was someone in here with her? No. The space was too small for anyone else. Did she have a wireless device? She didn't think so, those strange silver balls in her pockets didn't look to have a speaker when she had glanced at them earlier. It was then for a heart-stopping moment that she realized that the voice was inside her head.

_Emelia? It's Barnabus, don't be afraid, I'm speaking to you in your thoughts and I am seeing what you are seeing._

She realized he was in her head.

_I am, but please don't worry, I'm here to help you._

She nodded, hoping to avoid any incriminating thoughts, though instantly her subconscious of course brought up a list of all of her crimes. When Barnabus spoke in her thoughts next, she could almost hear a chuckle in his voice.

_I see the turret, but don't worry. Reach into your pocket and throw one of the those small silver balls Ms. Monauex gave you. Throw it at the turret and the problem will be resolved._

Not really sure what was going to happen, she slid her hand back, grabbed one of the spheres in her pocket and hurled it down the duct as hard as she could. She closed her eyes, expecting to hear turret fire any second, but none came. The ball rolled up to the turret, then started glowing a bright white. A moment later, the turret melted! Emelia blinked, not believing what she was seeing!

_Working for the Inquisition allows us some pleasant toys. Hold on... yes, I'll tell her. Inquisitor Alexander wants to let you know you're doing fine and to please proceed._

It was unnerving have others in her thoughts, inside her head, but she shook off the feeling and tried to concentrate on the trials now set before her. If she could get through this she wouldn't be trouble, maybe she could go hide away again and curl up back into the shadows. No one to hurt her, no one to look for her, no one to care.

It wasn't long before Emelia had to halt once more; coming around a corner she spotted a laser-grid covering the whole crawlspace. The bright red lines crossed from the right side of the vent to the other, beams that would slice apart anything that went through it. She had broken into quite a few buildings in her time, but only a few of them were rich enough to have a laser-grid like this one, even the more well-off merchants she had robbed for table scraps or coins she could pocket.

_Hmm. We were expecting this, hold on._

She stayed staring ahead at the red beams of death, waiting for the voice in her head to tell her what to do. She was surprisingly calm though; here in the small ventilation shaft, Emelia felt back in her element somewhat. This was something she had done before, something that was familiar to her, it brought ease with it.

_All right... Emelia?_

"Yes?" she whispered, though realizing she probably just could have thought the word for the same effect.

_This one is a little trickier; if anything touches the beams the local alarms will go off. Please get close and then unfold one of those spheres in your pocket._

"Unfold? They're solid metal"

_It will, trust me. It's... let's just say it's not typically something you'll see in the Imperium._

Taking a deep breath, Emelia crawled closer and closer to the las-beams that were slicing the air right in front of her. She could feel the heat on her face, it hurt, like standing too close to a fire. Once more carefully retrieving one of the balls from her pocket, she put both thumbs on in and tried to pry it apart even though it was a solid sphere of metal. Her fingernails sunk in a little though and she began to pull it apart! Emelia marveled as the sphere unfolded into a thin metal-like substance. There was no indication of how these crazy things worked, or how the other one had vaporized the turret before. Emelia heard a lot and was a smart girl,. She had to be to survive; she guessed that these wonderful little devices she had been given to complete her task were actually of xenos manufacture. She grimaced at the thought, the idea that something alien was touching her, in her pocket, but she tried not to focus on that. A minute later and the sphere had begun a large rectangular strip of metal-paper.

_Fold it in half so one side sticks up. It will reflect the beams back, providing continuous feedback._

Emelia almost laughed how easy this solution was. Of course she had no idea what this strange xenos metal she was folding was, but the solution seemed ridiculously simply in itself. She finished folding the strange metal into an L-shape then gently slid it towards the beams. Her finger pushing it hurt, the heat of the las-beams scalding them. She gritted her teeth but didn't go any faster; a miss-step here would probably be the end of her. The metal slid into place, and for a few heart-pounding seconds Emelia was sure it wouldn't work, but it held and no alarms went off.

_All right, good job. Now, you'll have to crawl past without accidentally knocking that out of place or else you'll be cut in half... oh yes, sorry. Inquisitor Alexander says I shouldn't mention dismemberment to a little girl, so... be safe and don't push the deflector out of place._

There was already hardly any room for her in the duct at all, this would be nearly impossible. Holding her breath and sucking in her stomach as much as she could, Emelia tried to turn on her side and push herself past using her toes. It was slow-going and each moment she thought she was about to die. It took three whole minutes to slide past where the las-beams would hit if the deflector was brushed out of place, three whole minutes of death leering right at her. She kept her eyes on the bright red of the beams and the thin piece of xenos material that was keeping her from a horrible death alone in an air duct.

The next few hundred yards of ventilation shaft were thankfully free of death-dealing devices, just some grates she had to unseal and some vertical shafts she had to scale. She had gotten quite good with her little fingernails in unscrewing the usually-ancient and rusted grates in the city's duct systems, so those presented no problem. For the vertical climbs, she pushed one side up against one wall and then walked herself up with her hands and feet pressed to the opposite.

Further down the duct, the next obstacle presented itself: a temperature monitor. She had also come across these before, usually when attempting to lift things from the more well-to-do homes of the city; this was a little more of a tricky problem then just blocking beams or jamming gates.

_Oh Throne, we weren't expecting this_. _This wasn't in the defense documents we lifted._

Emelia could hear Barnabus' fretful voice in her head; apparently their little xenos artifacts wouldn't have any use for this one.

_Hold on please Emelia, we'll figure this out... yes, if we just destroy the sensor the heating alarms will go off... no I don't think so..._

She shook her head, trying to ignore the half-conversation she was hearing in her thoughts, Barnabus apparently not worrying that he was still broadcasting to her. She stared at the scanner ahead, pretending she was on her own. That is how she operated, that is how she knew to survive, with no one to help her. Emelia knew that since it was in the ducts used for temperature control, it would not be operating at peak efficiency: having to constantly adjust based on the temperature adjustments of the building. Right now, the building's air-condition was on due to the heat outside, so all she had to do was try to get under the threshold the scanner was looking for. Back-tracking down a side shaft, Emelia was lucky and was able to find fan that led to the cooling systems down in the basement. The duct around it was slick with frost, tiny icicles hanging down. She backed up against the fan grate, all the refrigerated air hitting her at full blast.

_Emelia dear? What are you doing? You seem to have moved positions_.

"I can get past it," she whispered.

_It's too much, you'll have to lower your temperature too much, it's too dangerous. You're more than likely just going to pass out from hypothermia and we won't be able to get you until long after you've died._

A literal chilling thought. Emelia held her arms close, already shivering.

"I've done it before," she said to the thin air, an unmistakable chattering of teeth accompany her voice.

While that was true, she had managed to fool lower-grade scanners, this was an Administratum scanner, much more high-end and being able to detect a much broader spectrum.

_I told her Inquisitor. She says... Emelia? Inquisitor Alexander wants to ask you something._

There was a pause, Emelia realized they were waiting for her response. "Yes?"

_Are you sure you can do this?_

"Yes," she affirmed, despite her fear screaming at her to get out now.

If she stayed too long, she'd freeze to the spot, if she didn't get cold enough to fool the scanner than auto-defenses would activate and she'd be just as dead as if she froze.

Emelia sat there for awhile, shivering, ice slowly forming on the strands of her hair. Her clothes were thin, and she felt a bone-chilling cold as her teeth chattered.

Once she was at the point of nearly freezing to the spot, she shakily crawled forward once more and approached the scanner. Moving slowly and holding her breath, she began crawling past. She kept her eyes on the lens the whole time, but it never moved or gave any indication it cared about her. She was half-expecting an alarm to go off or laser blast to be shot at her from it, but nothing happened. Increasing her speed, she hurried around the next corner and let out a big exhale. She rubbed her arms, trying to feel some life in them once more. Water was running down her face from the ice in her hair that had begun to melt. Even though her legs were warming up, her knees were knocking together.

_Amazing._

She smiled at the compliment, feeling strangely proud that the Inquisition approved of what she was doing. She gingerly continued her slow but assured forward progress, Barnabus directing her in her head. The traps and defenses came less frequently and with less deviousness; apparently the builders had not planned on anyone penetrating the structure so far. Emelia's breath almost caught as she came to a grate and Barnabus told her to halt.

_This is it. What we are looking for should be in that room._

Emelia held her breath and paused at the grate, peering into the room before her. It appeared devoid of people at the moment, but was veritable feast of expensive baubles and nice furniture. After a few minutes of verifying the room was empty, she went to work on the latches for the ventilation duct. As quietly but as quickly as she could, she unscrewed them and set the grating aside in the duct. Leading with her legs, she let them dangle over the side for the moment before slipping into the room.

_The room will be clear of monitoring devices and traps. Remember: you are looking for a small ivory box marked with the RenSlen Agriculture Movement Company, a corporation owned by our target supposedly for facilitating the movement of agri-goods here on-planet and off-world._

"A food company?" never had a business sounded so dull and drab as that.

_A mere front for more sinister activities I assure you._

The carpet was a rich crimson with gold designs woven through it, the curtains in the room were made to match. The furniture was rich, plushy seats and velvet pads everywhere, golden arm-rests with intricate eagle designs etched in them. The tables were of the finest wood, polished to a shine, paperwork strewn all over them. A massive fireplace dominated the far wall, a warm blaze currently going in the hearth; the fireplace itself also appeared to be made out of gold and sported the same designs as the other gold features in the room. On the other walls hung paintings all of the same person, someone who Emelia thought looked familiar but could not place it at the moment. Not wanting to be discovered in such a place, she began to rummage as quickly and as quietly as she could through the documents arranged in haphazard piles on the tabletops to see if they hid the small ivory box she was looking for.

There were many shelves and display cases in the room, filled to the brim with expensive baubles; she wishes she'd brought a bag to take more in, she had never been amongst such finery in her life. The sheer amount of gold around her made her dizzy; just one item stolen from this room could probably feed her for a year, buy her a bed somewhere maybe. Emelia focused: she had to find that small ivory box and then escape; not wanting to think what dark lonely fate would await her if caught here.

The first several tables covered in papers afforded no results.

_Please hurry_.

The words came into her mind and she detected just a hint of anxiety behind the projected calm in Barnabus' mental voice.

"I am," she hissed, worry very evident in her own voice. Every moment she spent here was too long.

Switching to searching a shelf, it too was covered with books and papers. Combing through a pile, several papers fell to the floor. Stooping down to pick them up, she saw that they were letters addressed to a Honorable Henry Osslin...

Emelia's heart missed a beat, now recognizing who it was displayed in every painting around the room: Cardinal Osslin. The head of the Imperial Ecclesiarchy here on Riga, perhaps the most important person on the planet next to the Planetary Governor. She was in his chambers, she was stealing from the head of the planetary Ecclesiarchy! She almost dropped the papers she was holding and bolted for the ventilation duct there and then. That dark and lonely fate she had been worried about if she was discovered got even darker with this realization.

_It's all right, _Barnabus' voice came to her, _just breathe, it's all right. He's busy elsewhere with preparations for the ceremony soon, he won't find you. We didn't tell you because we didn't want you to worry_

A bit too late for that now.

Emelia tried to steady herself, putting the papers she was holding down and resuming the search for the ivory box. She had gone through all the tables and four of the wall-shelves when something glinting in the fire-light caught her eye on the next shelf down.

Brushing a pile of correspondence out of the way, she found herself staring at a small rectangular ivory box with gold filigree on the sides. Etched in gold on the top of the lid was a company logo.

_That's it!_ Barnabus sounded excited, _now get out of there._  
Emelia carefully grabbed the box, careful to not have it open, remembering the warning from Belladonna earlier. Tucking it under her arm, she turned to retreat to the duct grate and escape back to safety.

That's when the door opened.

Staring at her from the door was a man in robes of ivory and green, shiny jewels hanging from a necklace around his next and on rings on every one of his fingers. Easily identifiable by the paintings in the room, this was Cardinal Osslin, the voice of the church on Riga. They stared at each other for a moment in utter silence, the door closing behind the Cardinal.

_Emelia... run!_

Barnabus' voice in her thoughts awoke her from her reverie and she bolted for the open grate with everything she was worth. Using a footrest as a platform, she ran up on it and jumped towards the grate. She was soaring through the air, safety coming closer with every moment.

There was a blur of movement and suddenly Osslin had crossed the room and was standing in front of her escape! She had never seen anyone move so fast! He backhanded her savagely and Emelia went flying to the ground back towards the center of the room!

_Emelia! Inquisitor, she..._

Barnabus' voice faded away.

"Just us my dear," Osslin's voice dripped with venom.

Emelia scooted backwards as Osslin easily replaced the grate in the wall, knocking it into place with his fist. Her escape was cut off. He turned to her, a grin curling on his thin lips.

"My dear," he spread his arms now sounding welcoming, "what can the humble Cardinal Osslin do for you today?"

She tried to hide the ivory box under her arm, if she was lucky he had not seen it yet.

"I... I," she stammered for a lie, "I got lost"

"Lost you say?" he frowned an exaggerated frown, "well that is terrible. It is good then that you found your way to my chambers. I am here for the lost ones, I am here to hear their sins and set them right, to correct those sins"

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be here," she tried to sound as innocent as possible, not really thinking it was working.

He was advancing towards her and she had nowhere else to go, "it's perfectly all right child, I'm glad I found you"

Her back was up against one of the plush chairs, she couldn't back away from him anymore as he came in front of her and bent down, that grin still on his face. He suddenly raised his hand and slapped her across the face! Tears flying to the carpet, Emelia doubled over, the sting burning across her cheek.

"I'm glad I caught you, little thief," he sneered, "oh, you made a mistake coming here, a big one"

"Please," she begged, the real terror setting in, "please, I'm sorry, please let me..."

"Let you what?" he cut her off, "let you go? After breaking into my private chambers, after rifling through my papers, trying to steel my property?!"

He reached over and wrenched the ivory box from under her arm, the meal scraping her skin as she yanked it away. He kicked her in the gut as he held the box up and let it shine in the light of the fire. He ran his fingers over it lovingly, his grin increasing as he did so.

"Who put you up this this my dear? Who told you to come steal my little toy?"

"No... no one," she stammered, clutching her gut where she had been kicked, "I'm... I'm just hungry..."

"Hmm," it didn't sound like he believed her, "we'll see. You're never going to leave this room alive, you know that, right?"

Emelia let out a sob, trying to ball herself up as much as possible. She was hurt, she was cold, and she was alone. The fire in the room had dimmed, and the shadows were increasing.

"I'm going to have fun with you," he looked back down at her like he was looking at discarded trash, "I have sometime before I'm supposed to speak before the cattle"

He reached down and grabbed a handful of her hair, pulling her to fer feet with it. Emelia let out a scream, trying to pull his hand away but he was too strong for her. She lashed out with her feet, but she didn't even budge when she kicked him, it just made him smile more!

"Feisty one, I like that," Osslin laughed, "so much more fun to break. You're going to stay lost my child, and never be found"

He leaned forward and licked her cheek. She felt disgusted, she felt helpless, she felt wrong. She couldn't understand why a Cardinal of the Ecclesiarchy was acting like this. She was still crying, the tears flowing freely down her cheeks from her wide eyes.

He released her hair and she crumpled back to the floor in a heap.

"Do you want to see what you were sent here for, little thief?"

"Please," she wheezed, "I didn't, no one... I was just..."

"Here," he crouched down, opening the ivory box in front of her, "take a look"

She didn't want to, but her eyes caught a fleeting glimpse of what was inside and she found she couldn't look away.

Inside the box, resting on crimson satin was a small piece of black rock that had s strange symbol etched into it she had never seen before: an eight-pointed star. Even though she found she couldn't look away, it was wrong to look at it. Her eyes hurt, she felt her stomach hurting, her head getting dizzy. The shadows grew longer and she thought she could hear whispers just at the edge of her hearing.

"Funny isn't it," Osslin mused, enjoying watching her squirm, "Imperial fools don't see what's right under their own noses. From here I can turn a billion minds to my masters, from here I can poison their system from inside it! Who would even suspect that the Cardinal of this world is actually a servant of Chaos"

That word broke Emelia out of her daze.

She covered her eyes, trying to crawl away as fast as she could. He grabbed her ankle and twisted it, causing her to shriek in pain. She realized she was even more doomed than if the she was turned over to the unsympathetic Arbites, she was in the clutches of a servant of Chaos, no pain or perversion was beyond them. She was going to die horribly, and terribly, all alone... lost.

He came at her.

"No one's coming for you; we're going to have fun you and I"

Emelia closed her eyes, her tears falling to the carpet.

That's when the door shattered open.

One moment it was there, then the next it was just slivers of wood blasted apart.

"Inquisition!" a voice bellowed as the building sirens blared.

Osslin whipped around, his face meeting a large Catachan fist, sending him spinning to the ground. Inquisitor Alexander stood in the shattered doorway plasma pistol in hand, Belladonna and Cole advancing into the room, blades at the ready.

"Stay down pig," Ruden snarled at him, sounding every bit a monster of Catachan.

Emelia didn't dare open her eyes, her mind torn and her body in pain. She assumed it was a trick: she had been told they wouldn't come to rescue her, that she was alone.

"Emelia?" it was Belladonna's voice, "Emelia we found you; it's all right, he won't hurt you"

Her eyes slowly opened, hardly daring to hope it was actually her.

"Is it.. is it you?" she asked weakly.

"Of course it is honey," Belladonna scooped her up and held her close, "you did great. It's all right, it's over"

Emelia allowed her eyes to close for a moment, just feeling the warmth of somebody holding her close, "but, but they said you wouldn't..."

Inquisitor Alexander strode over and knelt down so he was level with her, concern surprisingly written across his face.

"I'm very sorry you had to go through that, are you okay?"

She nodded, "I'm all right. Did I... Did I do well?"

He laughed, "better than most my dear," he patted the top of her head, "much better than most in the situation. He blocked our link to you, but we could still hear you. You didn't tell him who sent you; you were very brave"

"I wasn't," Emelia couldn't put into words the fear she had felt when she had been discovered.

"No," the Inquisitor shook his head, "you were braver than most"

"He said," she paused, the weight of what she was saying truly hitting her, "he said he worked for..."

"We know," Inquisitor Alexander interjected, "that's why we wanted to steal that box, it was the proof we needed. With that we could deal with him quietly in cooperation with the Ecclesiarchy, without much disruption of faith here on Riga"

"But now...," she realized that now it was all out in the open.

"Well, we couldn't leave you now could we," the Inquisitor smiled, "Emelia, like I said, you were very brave, and resourceful. Those are traits that the Inquisition is always looking for as we fight the enemies of the Emperor and mankind"

She just looked at him, not really grasping what he was saying.

He let out a chuckle, "you did well and I did kind of put you in the middle of it, so I do feel pretty responsible. Emelia, I'm offering you a job"

Her eyes widened, "a... a job?"

"That's right!" Belladonna seemed absolutely thrilled, "traveling across the Imperium, fighting the bad guys; you proved yourself"

"How about it?" the Inquisitor was smiling, "would you like to join our little family here and do something with your life?"

She wanted more than anything to be with people, to be doing something other than just stealing food to survive. She wanted to get off of Riga, she wanted to live. She paused though, thinking back on all that had just happened.

"Is it always like this?"

The Inquisitor thought about that for a moment before answering truthfully, "sometimes. Sometimes it's really dangerous, sometimes you may put your life in danger, sometimes someone may die, maybe you. But, you'll be doing it serving the Imperium and protecting people from the things they don't need to know about"

Her choice was to die alone on the streets of Riga someday, maybe in an Arbite's cell for being a vagrant, or perhaps die sooner doing something important with the Inquisition.

She just didn't want to be alone any more.

"I'll go," she nodded, realizing she was changing her life with those two very small words.

Belladonna hugged her, and the Inquisitor laughed, "very good. Bella here will take you to our ship so you can rest up. Welcome to our little family Emelia," he removed his black glove from one of his hands and offered his hand to her.

She weakly shook it.

Inquisitor Alexander motioned his head to the door, giving Belladonna the signal to take Emelia out of there. She set her down on her feet and held her hand, taking her out of the room and away from Osslin, who was still laid out on the floor.

"Come on," Belladonna was relishing the chance to be a big sister of sorts, "you'll love the ship, the _Quantum Pole_, and I'll tell you all about what we're doing"

Inside the room, Inquisitor Alexander slipped the glove back on his feet, coming to his feet. Nodding to Cole and Ruden, the large Catachan man leaned over and rolled Osslin onto his front. One held his hands while one held his legs fast to the ground. The Cardinal was just coming around and his eyes were livid.

"How dare you burst in here! This is Ecclesiarchy property, you have no right to..."

"Silence Osslin," Inquisitor Alexander's voice was devoid of the warmth it had when he was speaking to Emelia, "we know you serve the Ruinous Powers. The Inquisition has caught up with you"

A wild look came over the Cardinal, "you'll never find what you're looking for, servants of the corpse god!"

"Blasphemy, even now?" Inquisitor Alexander mused, "no, we don't need to talk, we just needed this," he picked up the ivory box which had fallen to the floor, "we can trace this back to your contacts, we'll discover the base of your cult soon enough"

"You'll never win!" Osslin spit at him, "you can't stop what has always existed!"

Inquisitor Alexander leaned over their prisoner, "but that is where you are wrong, heretic"

Without another word, the Inquisitor raised his fist and brought it smashing down into Osslin's jaw, breaking it.

"Now no more will hear your heresy. You will spend the rest of your increasingly-short life in an Inquisitorial cell, every torture imaginable will be used on you. Ruden, signal to Inquisitor Eddard that he can take the ex-Cardinal and we await what he learns from his ministrations. Cole: signal to Barnabus to let the next in charge know to expect more Inquisitors soon investigating the corruption here, then tell him to meet us at the ship. We will discover Osslin's contacts soon enough and root out this vile cult," he pocketed the ivory box.

"Oh," the Inquisitor added, "also tell Barnabus to signal the Cannoness, I should speak with her to make sure there are no ruffled feathers. Things will be easier if we don't antagonize the Adepta Sororitas in this matter"

"I'd like to antagonize some of those...," Cole began grinning.

"Not now," the Inquisitor wasn't in the mood for the Cadian's rather lecherous leanings, "and watch talk like that on the ship, we have a child with us now"

"Yeah," Ruden stood up, "about that, why bring a child along? None of this will be safe"

"She's useful, she's brave, and she's thinks fast on her feet. Also, no one will see her coming. I sense she'll be important; I'm not sure how, I just have a feeling"

"Fair enough," Ruden nodded, "and he's right Cole: watch your mouth"

"What?" Cole held his hands out, "what's all this about me?"

"The Inquisitor found me in a shell crater, he found Belladonna in a pit fight in an underhive... where did he find you?"

"A brothel?" offered Cole.

Ruden just shook his head, "exactly"

"Come on, the Inquisitor headed towards the door, "we have heretics to catch"

Meanwhile, on a nearby landing pad, Emelia was taking the first steps into her new life. Boarding the warp-capable _Quantum Pole_, a mid-size ship that easily fit the Inquisitor and his retinue. She had actually bounced on her bed when Belladonna had shown her to her new quarters, the killer from the underhives just smiling at the door as she watched the delighted child.

Emelia stopped bouncing and sat down, looking crestfallen. Belladonna frowned and came over to sit next to her.

"What's wrong?"

Emelia sighed, "this is wonderful. But, but I don't think I can do it, I don't think I'll be any good"

Belladonna could understand where she was coming from, "why not?"

"Because," Emelia looked up at her, "I'm just a kid, I don't know anything, I don't really have any skills, I'm not special, I..."

"Hey," Belladonna put her arm around her, "one thing I've learned is anyone can do good, anyone can be useful, they just have to know they can. Inquisitor Alexander can see the good in people, see their potential. He saw mind when I was fighting in a pit fight, when I'd never done anything that could be considered 'good' in my life. He saw something in you, just believe in yourself. Another thing I've learned is anyone can serve the Emperor, no matter how small or where you come from. Welcome to the family Emelia. It'll be risky and you'll see things that are too terrible for most, but your life will be unlike that of anyone else and at the end, you'll know you did good"

She knew it would be dangerous, she knew she very well might die in this new life, but Emelia couldn't help but beam a smile: despite all everything, she wasn't lost any more.

_So great has been the calamitousness of these times, and such the inveterate malice of the heretics, that there has been nothing ever so clear in our statement of faith, nothing so surely settled, which they, at the instigation of the enemy of the human race, have not defiled by some sort of error. For which cause the holy Inquisition hath made it Its especial care to condemn and anathematise the principal errors of the heretics of our time, and to deliver and teach the true and Imperial doctrine; even as It has condemned, anathematised, and decreed._

_- declaration of Inquisitorial mandate_


	4. Chapter 4: Traveler

**Part 4: Traveler**

The stars were brighter and more beautiful than she could ever imagine. Breaking the atmosphere of Riga, the _Quantum Pole_ ascended into the heavens, the roadways of the Imperium. For an orphan street-urchin, the thought of traveling beyond the planet was never a possibility for Emelia unless she was unfortunate enough to be caught in a press-gang by the Imperial Navy if they came calling on that world, in need of new human fuel for the unending labors in the belly of their metal beasts.

The local star reflected in the viewing port as if fogged up from Emelia's excited breath, her face pressed as hard as she could up against it so she wouldn't miss a thing that was going by. Passing by the satellites and low-orbit vessels that circled the planets, soon they were in open space, the cold void that the ships of the Imperium plied.

There were a larger number of ships than normal in orbit, with the celebrations of Discovery Day going on below, bringing in travel and trade beyond the normal. Emelia sat back in her acceleration harness, closing her eyes and trying to process exactly where she was. Two days ago she had been a street rat, a forgotten daughter of the Imperium, destined for an untimely death or imprisonment or worse, now she was sitting on an Inquisitorial ship, leaving Riga far behind. She was not a prisoner of the feared and mysterious organization, no, she was part of it. That was the thing she could not get over could not quite fully come to grips with. How did she, someone so young and so insignificant come to be in a place like this.

Opening her eyes, she had top confirm that this was indeed real and not just a fantasy of a fevered dream. Across from her, the underhive assassin Belladonna was smiling at her, obviously enjoying the newest crew-members excitement and being overwhelmed, perhaps remembering her own first time leaving her own world of Necromunda. Further along the middle-cabin of the ample cutter was Cole and Ruden, the two ex-Imperial Guard members. Ruden had his massive arms folded and his eyes closed, while Cole was reading one of the trashy three-credit novellas sold on re-used paper in the less-reputable markets of Riga. Past them was the strangest person in the party: Barnabus, the psyker. He looked unnatural and sick, but Emelia had felt him when he was in her thoughts and she thought she sensed a caring heart buried under the duty and pale layers of skin.

Across from him, nearest to the door to the cockpit was the most powerful person she had ever met: Inquisitor Toren Alexander. With the power to end worlds, Inquisitors were some of the most feared and enigmatic of the Emperor's servants. She had met the pilot when she came on-board, a jovial ex-Imperial Guard pilot named Tei. He had shook her hand with enthusiasm as Belladonna had introduced them, saying he was from someplace called Talasa Prime and that she would love being part of their group aside from all the explosions, enemy fire, traitors, and any other number of nasty things they encountered he said with a sincere smile. He Bella had pushed him back into the cockpit and told her she'd be fine, showing her around the rest of the cutter. Past the middle cabin that housed the supply lockers, tables, and acceleration harnesses, there were several small cabins in the back that housed the beds, then several storage compartments. Emelia, being the young thief she was, naturally noticed that all the pressure doors were unlocked besides one: one of the storage compartments appeared to be locked, the glyph of the Inquisition etched over the lock. Bella didn't even acknowledge it, and Emelia figured it wasn't her place to ask. The Inquisition was an organization of secrets, she figured she'd see more than a normal share for however long she survived.

Everyone was quiet, and Emelia stayed silent herself, not wanting to break the atmosphere. She was used to being quite and not being seen, so she just enjoyed the view out of her porthole as Riga became less and less to the aft.

"Emelia?" a voice did break the silence, nearly giving her a start. It was the Inquisitor who had spoke.

All eyes had turned to her.

"Y... yes sir?" she wasn't sure how she was supposed to respond.

He chuckled, "don't be so nervous, this is your home now. You don't have to be afraid of us"

Ruden murmured, "speak for yourself"

Bella get him a poisonous look, "be nice"

The Inquisitor continued, "enjoying your, I assume, first trip into the infinite space?"

She answered quiet honestly, "yes! It's beautiful"

That brought a smile to Alexander's lips, "unabashed wonder at the universe; I fear sometimes we become so focused we lose that"

Now Cole joined the conversation, playfully mimicking Ruden's rumbling tone, "speak for yourself"

That earned a one-eyed glare from Ruden.

"Wonderment only at women does not count Mr. Wyke," chided Barnabus.

The blond-haired ex-Guardsmen just shrugged, took another drag from his Lho-stick and went back to his reading.

"Once we've docked," Inquisitor Alexander continued, ignoring the previous exchange, "we'll get you squared away in one of the cabins in the back. I'll warn you, it's a little cramped at times"

"That's all right," she spoke up, "anyplace inside is nice"

The Inquisitor nodded, "I'm sure. Well, it might take some getting used-to, sleeping on a real bed"

"You and I will be in the same cabin," Belladonna told her, "Inquisitor Alexander has one to himself, Barnabus has one, and then Cole and Ruden and Tei share the third"

Ruden just snorted. Apparently Cole's antagonizing of him did not just include time spent on missions. How they had not killed each other yet was a mystery to Emelia, she assumed that even Tei's friendly nature was probably of annoyance to the inscrutable and rough Ruden.

Something had caught Emelia's attention, "you said docked?"

"That's right," Alexander confirmed, "this is a pretty capable ship as Mr. Tei is fond of reminding us every time we scratch the paint, but not suited for prolonged voyages in the warp. No, we will be docking with a much larger ship that will carry us to our next place of inquiry. Fortunately our next stop is not too far distant and should only take a few days in the empyrean"

The prospect of seeing a new star-ship was also a very exciting prospect for the previously-planet-bound Emelia. She wondered if it was going to be a large cargo freighter, or maybe one of the dashing Rogue Traders she had heard so many stories about, or maybe a battleship of the local Imperial Navy. Those ships were cathedrals in space, capable of ending worlds and holding back the thousands of terrors that the people of the Imperium were told that were clawing at their borders.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Hmm?" the Inquisitor looked back to her.

"What kind of ship?" She felt strange and small addressing an Inquisitor so informally and forwardly, but it seemed to be all right and what he'd prefer.

"Oh, it's called the _Watchtower_"

She pressed her face back to the porthole, "I don't see it," they had long ago left the space traffic around Riga behind.

Cole chuckled, and Bella smiled, Emelia had the feeling there was something not quite normal about the ship they were heading to meet.

The Inquisitor folded his hands, "we have been making speed for a distant spot in the system where we are to meet the ship. Let's just say our gracious hosts prefer not to be seen and if they are, it would cause I'm sure not a small amount of disruption on poor Riga"

Emelia realized she had left a normal life far behind and was now in the hot-bed of the secrets and dangers of the Imperium, this was a life far removed from any she had ever imagined.

A shadow fell across their cutter, the local star being blotted out by another ship in close proximity.

Tei's voice came through on the intercom from the cockpit, "proximity alert, close warp translation. It's the _Watchtower_ Inquisitor"

Alexander leaned over and touched the talk-back button on the panel near the door, "very good, signal the appropriate greetings. Give them disposition and confirm previous communications. Brother-Captain Radan does not appreciate delay"

"Brother-Captain?" Emelia's small voice faltered.

Perhaps it was from a story she had heard at some point, or some kind of deep-ingrained hereditary memory of the last ten-thousand years, but that phrase brought a certain amount of fear and reverence to her heart. It was not a designation given to mortals. It was the signifier of something more, something more terrible and wonderful at the same time.

"Ah yes, I should probably give you some forewarning," Alexander answered her, causing her to become even more nervous as he felt the need to warn her about where they were going, "we are quite soon to be docking with the _Watchtower_, a Strike Cruiser belonging our friends the Grey Knights, a chapter of Space Marines"

She had never heard of the Grey Knights before, but the words 'Space Marines' rang a bell in her soul. Every citizen of the Imperium knew to fear and respect the huge warriors. The giant angels of death, the hand-crafted warriors of the Emperor, the Space Marines were instruments of death and destruction. Typically, if a mortal saw a Space Marine, they were about to die, or something around the next corner was about to kill them. Space Marines were only deployed in dire circumstances, when the normal forces of the Imperium would prove no-match or insufficient to hold back the terrors. Their presence inspired fear, reverence, subservience, and devotion. Clad in nearly impenetrable ceramite power armor, they were post-humans who could break a man in half with their bear hands.

"Space... Space Marines?" she gulped, the prospect of being in proximity them a very terrifying prospect.

Bella leaned forward, "don't worry, they're all right, if a little gruff"

The cabin shook and the sound of metal on metal reverberated through the compartment.

Tei's voice came back over the intercom, "clamps engaging, hard-seal achieved. We're docked, Inquisitor"

"Very well," Alexander replied through the panel in the cabin, dis-engaging his acceleration harness.

Bella was out of her harness in a moment and then was over helping Emelia remove all the complicated locks meant to keep a person safe and in one piece during turbulence or other unforeseen dangers. The others extracted themselves from the harnesses at their own speed, Barnabus being the slowest, his movements seemingly very frail. Tei emerged from the cockpit and spoke with the Inquisitor for a moment before the sound of the airlock unsealing filled the cabin. All eyes turned to the door, only the Inquisitor seemed unconcerned. Emelia picked up on the slight rise in tension in the cabin and moved slightly behind Belladonna.

With the final lock mechanism opening, the airlock door slid away and a giant entered the compartment. The cabin seemed so much smaller with this new larger-than-life presence in their midst. Even the air seemed thinner but had much more of a weight to it than before. This giant was wearing plain cloth robes, had a bald head and blue eyes that were so piercing Emelia thought they could cut steel. His forearms were bigger than her torso and each of his hands looked like it could crush a man's skull without effort. His eyes swept the cabin, settling on Emelia for a moment. She shrank back further behind the assassin before the giant turned his attention back to the Inquisitor.

Emelia had made the very reasonable leap in deduction that this was a Space Marine, the first she had ever seen. Even the most extravagant stories did not do justice to the presence of this giant now before her. The angels of the Emperor were everything they were said to be and so much more. Even the unflappable Ruden seemed more ill-at-ease standing so close to such a powerful entity of death.

"Tennlyn, so glad to see you again," Inquisitor Alexander spoke to the new arrival.

"Inquisitor," the Space Marine bowed his head slightly, "no issues on Riga we can assume?"

Alexander shook his head, "dealt with. We're ready to move on to the next point of investigation. Coordinates were included in the data burst I sent before breaking atmosphere"

"Yes," the Space Marine confirmed, "Brother-Captain Radan received your communique and has approved the route"

"Excellent," the Inquisitor smiled, "I am eager to put an end to this conspiracy"

The Space Marine glanced back at Emelia once more, "indeed. Your data burst also mentioned you acquired a new piece of your retinue"

"Ah," Alexander looked over to the young girl as well, "yes, she was an excellent help to the Inquisition and the business of the Emperor"

The Space Marine seemed unconvinced, "a Strike Cruiser is no place for children Inquisitor, nor is the business we are set upon"

Emelia's heart missed a beat, imagining the large Space Marine throwing her out an airlock and no one being able to do a thing to stop him.

"She's capable, I respect her talents, and part of my crew. Age does not matter when the Emperor calls you to serve," the Inquisitor's voice was slightly more forceful.

The Space Marine did not break his gaze for a few moments more, a time in which Emelia felt the weight of the world crushing down on her, when he did finally look away, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Very well," the Space Marine nodded, "as you say, Inquisitor. A Librarian will also be here shortly to confirm the wards for the secure cargo"

The Inquisitor glanced towards the back of the ship, "yes, most appreciative. Can't be too safe"

The Space Marine continued, "we will be translating to the warp as soon as we clear the augurs of the local system. Please submit a re-supply list if needed. You and your retinue are our guests of course, usual restrictions apply"

The Inquisitor's smile returned, "of course Tennlyn, the Inquisition is appreciative of the support of your and your crew during this mission"

"As the Emperor wills Inquisitor, we serve"

The Space Marine bowed once more then left, the air becoming lighter without the giant's presence. He was the most terrifying thing Emelia had ever seen. The cold inhumanity and raw killing power was enough to make it difficult to breath or be near the Space Marine.

"Man of few words as always," Bella mused as they were left alone once more.

"Not even really a man anymore," Ruden rumbled as he too retried his stowed gear.

Cole was retrieving his weapons from a nearby locker, "Faith, Duty, and Insufferably Being Rude, that's their motto"

Inquisitor Alexander came over and sat down next to Emelia, "don't worry about Tennlyn, my little friend. Space Marines are a notoriously humorless bunch, the Grey Knights even more given their task. Don't worry about them, they're trusted friends to the Inquisition, they just take some time getting used to"

"Sometimes never," remarked Cole from the opposite end of the compartment.

"Quiet Wyke," Bella shut him up, "be nice, the poor girl's having to adjust to a lot of new things all at once without you helping"

"Hey, it's the truth," he murmured as he disembarked.

"We'll be staying here on our ship, but it'll be good to get out and stretch the legs, we have some run of the Cruiser. We don't want to get in their way though, so we won't be going very far"

"Where are we going?" she realized she had never asked where her new life was taking her. Belladonna had explained a little to her on the way from the Riga Administratum building to the _Quantum Pole_ that they were investigating some kind of cult activity, but that was it.

"We are heading to a neighboring system, the planet of Dantane to be precise. You saw the damned artifact that Osslin had, we're on the hunt for the persons procuring such items and spreading them in Imperial space"

"What are we going to do when we get there?" that was the more pressing question.

"Stop them," shrugged the Inquisitor, "however we deem necessary once we arrive and investigate. Don't worry about it," he put his hand to her head and tussled her hair, "everything's going to be all right, enjoy your first trip in the infinite black"

"Okay," she nodded, trying to put worrisome thoughts of the future as far from her mind as possible.

The Inquisitor smiled at her and moved off to talk with Belladonna. Cole, Ruden, Barnabus, and Tei had already disembarked for the time being, leaving Emelia on the far side of the cabin, staring out the porthole at the stars, part of the Strike Cruiser in view, the hard metal decorated with ancient edifices and glyphs she knew not what they meant.

Already in such a short amount of time, she had done so many things she thought she would never do, so many things that people of her station could never even dream of doing or seeing. She was journeying into the stars, leaving Riga behind, was helping the Imperial Inquisition, was going to leave the star system, had met a Space Marine, was going to allowed on a Strike Cruiser... she felt dizzy thinking of how her fortunes had changed so quickly.

"_You're an interesting one"_

Emelia felt cold. She whipped around to see where the insidious whisper had come from.

There was no one close to her. The Inquisitor and the assassin were still on the far side of the cabin, and the others had not returned yet. There was no one within ten steps of her but the voice had been whispered seemingly right into her ear. She turned back around, but just the empty void of stars stared back at her from the window.

"Are you ready to see the Cruiser?" Belladonna came over.

"Y... yeah!" Emelia smiled, trying to ignore what had just happened, hoping it was just nerves due to everything that had happened.

As the assassin led her off of the cutter, talking excitedly about the Space Marine Cruiser, Emelia could not shake from her mind the fact she had stepped into a world far beyond her imagination and possibly more sinister than she had ever feared. Emelia shook her head clear and focused on the calming voice of Bella, talking now about some of the daily routines aboard the _Watchtower._ Apparently they were to dine with the captain that evening, some kind of old tradition. Dinner with a Space Marine, every second of this new life brought a new surprise. Her thoughts finally forgot the strange voice she had heard as she grew excited seeing the enigmatic cruiser from the inside, but the voice would not forget her.

**To be continued in Part 5: Passenger**


End file.
